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Lei Liang Premieres Collaborative Opera; New Works from Andrew Norman and Joseph Schwantner!

by Ted Gordon on
May 6, 2013, 11 a.m.

Fans of New Music, performers, conductors, devoted PSNY Blog readers-- did you miss us? A few ways to excuse our relative silence: springtime is finally here; we've been going to too many concerts; and, of course, we've been busy preparing tons of new work for publication!

Joseph Schwantner's Angelfire, for amplified violin and orchestra, is also now available as a full score. Originally commissioned for Anne Akiko Meyers, this piece has been recorded on Hyperion and remains a theatrical favorite of the solo violin repertoire. We're also pleased to make available the full score to Taking Charge, for Flute/Piccolo, Percussion, and Piano. Taking Charge premiered in 2012 at Northwestern's Bienen School of Music; a full video recording of the premiere can be seen here.

Lei Liang is taking part in a collaborative chamber opera project, Cuatro Corridos, which addresses human trafficking, one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time. Cuatro Corridos was spearheaded by soprano Susan Narucki and author Jorge Volpi, and has had support from the Yellow Barn Foundation, the UCSD Department of Music, UC Mexis and the MAP Fund. It brings together four composers, including Lei Liang, each to write one of four acts, which tell the story of women trapped in a cycle of prostitution and slavery in the San Diego/Tijuana border area. Lei has written a blog post about his own experience with human trafficking as an Chinese ex-pat living in America, and we greatly look forward to hearing his contribution to this important work. The World Premiere takes place on May 8th at the Conrad Prebys Music Center's Experimental Theater on the UCSD Campus, and performances run until May 11th. Tickets can be purchased here.